JUST ENOUGH TO GET TO HEAVEN

I've been accused.

By Who? For What?

WHO...?

Why, the Accuser, of course. Huh? Let me see if I can explain....

Every step I take, every move I make, seems to be informed by the tradition and religiosity that I was steeped in. 

GUILT IS EVERYWHERE

There is a scripture waiting to hit me over the head for everything I do, good or bad.

My Accuser knows how to use this to his advantage and to my destruction... or perhaps a lot of it is my own voice in my head that recites these rules and keeps me bound in guilt and holds me back from the freedom that we were meant to live in. But then, what is the difference?

When I was a little girl and all the way through grownupsville, I lived in fear of "missing" or "not making it" to heaven. 

What would keep me out of heaven? 

EVERY MOVE I MADE

Direct or implied, here is just a partial list: If I didn't go to church. If I associated with people who didn't go to church...our church...NOT the Baptist one down the street, and CERTAINLY not the Catholic Church! If I took communion without repenting of my sins. If I peeked while praying. If I didn't pray. If I prayed the wrong thing. If I didn't pray before my meals. If I wore a Saint Christopher when going steady with Randy Blackwell, If I danced. If I went to the movies. If I lied. If I expressed my true feelings. If I associated with "the world" and worse yet, if I accepted them without them being in our religious club. If I didn't stand up on the rooftop and preach a condemning gospel.  If I didn't read my Bible every day. If I didn't tithe.  If I smoked. If I had sex before marriage. If I didn't become the subservient slave in marriage. If I didn't go to the alter and get saved every Sunday. If I voted for Kennedy instead of Nixon. If I had questions or doubts. If I said bad words (but not if I talked behind someone's back.) If I didn't love my brother or sister.

....to name just a few.

I remember when my siblings and I would fight as children. We might go to mom and say, "I hate her!" Mom would explain that we couldn't hate....so we would say, "Okay then, I love her JUST enough to get to heaven!"

Because LOOKING guilty and BEING guilty are two different things.

Where did these rules come from? Nobody seems to know. That's why I believe that they come from the Accuser. Accusations have no bearing on the truth...unless you believe what the accuser is saying and make it the truth about you.

This is what the Bible says about the matter:

"Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: 
   They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.    We're sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. (Rom. 8:37-39- The Message)

I find that to be liberating! Truth is, I always knew that I was "safe" - but wanted to make doubly sure that I didn't miss the boat.

So I would duck under the table at school, pretend to pick up my straw that I dropped, and pray for my meal...just in case Jesus came... 

.....but I did not love those very people that Jesus died for.

What is going to ensure that I walk through the pearly gates?

“The most important commandment,” answered Jesus, “is this:  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

By my calculations, there are two do's and NO don't's. Because if you live the do's you won't need to be worrying about any don't's. If you live the do's then the Accuser is left with nothing to hold against you.

Problem solved. Guilt Gone. And I love you JUST enough to get to heaven...

and THAT is perfect!